New Delhi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday (January 20) accused governor Rajendra Arlekar of making omissions and modifications to the customary opening address on the first day of the state last session. Vijayan said that during his 112-minute-long policy speech that was approved by the state cabinet, Arlekar omitted the parts which criticised the Union government’s fiscal policy and the delay in giving assent to bills passed by the state legislature, reported Hindustan Times.After the Governor left the House following his address, Vijayan said that he had made some changes to the text in paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 of the address.“The policy speech approved by the Cabinet is in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and the practices of the House. Since the honourable Governor is making a policy statement of the government in the House, paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 of the address approved by the Cabinet will remain unchanged,” said Vijayan.According to the CM, the original section in paragraph 12 of the address read thus: “Despite these social and institutional achievements, Kerala continues to face a severe fiscal stress arising from a series of adverse Union government actions that undermine the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism.”But in governor Arlekar’s speech, it was read as “despite these social and institutional achievements, Kerala continues to face a severe fiscal stress arising from curtailment of advances,” said CM Vijayan.Moreover, in paragraph 15, CM Vijayan said that the governor omitted the section on the delay in the passage of bills. The sentence omitted by the Governor read as “Bills passed by State legislatures have remained pending for prolonged periods. My government has approached the Supreme Court on these issues, which have been referred to a Constitution bench.”Thereafter the CM said that in paragraph 16, Arlekar prefaced the section about tax devolution and finance commission grants with the term “my government feels”.The governor’s office termed the controversy ‘baseless and unnecessary.’A statement issued by the Lok Bhavan said that the Governor had asked that “half-truths” be removed from the draft of the speech.“The government had responded that the speech could be prepared and read with amendments that the Governor found appropriate. There was also an indication that the speech could be sent again with the suggested changes,” said the statement, reported Hindustan Times.It added that the same version of the speech was returned without any amendments. It is not customary for governors to make changes or fact check these speeches.The Governor’s office said that the reference about the Supreme Court referring Kerala’s pleas on delay in approval of bills to a constitutional bench was factually incorrect. The Supreme Court has not made any such reference.